Trump gives the OK for ICE agents to raid churches and schools looking for undocumented migrants
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Faith leaders, school districts and ‘sanctuary’ city leaders vow to protect immigrants and targeted families. For more than a decade, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents had been restricted from arrests in “sensitive” sites without approval from more senior officials.
The latest directive under Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman rescinds previous guidance under Joe Biden’s administration, which further established “protected areas,” including places where “children gather, disaster or emergency relief sites, and social services establishments.”.
The changes have drawn sharp rebukes and warnings from faith leaders, teachers unions, school districts and immigrant advocacy groups, with state and local leaders in so-called “sanctuary” policies pledging to defend their jurisdictions in court. “The end of the Department of Homeland Security’s sensitive locations policy strikes fear into the heart of our community, cynically layering a blanket of anxiety on families when they are worshiping God, seeking health care and dropping off and picking up children at school,” according to Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.
